No joke

Last week, my husband played an April Fool's joke on me by posting an entry on my blog that sounded exactly like me. In his post, I had been asked to be part of a new "Presidential Council on Homeschooling, a focus group of homeschoolers who provide thoughtful response and recommendations to President Obama concerning his plans for education reform."

The details lent themselves to making this focus group sound legitimate: I was to participate in a series of online discussions with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, fly to Washington for a week-long conference and photo op, and then be part of a national "listening tour" in the fall.

As you might imagine, I was confused when I read it, and several in my blog readers commented to congratulate me on my appointment. It was pretty funny. April Fool's!

Aside from the terrifying thought of actually being asked to do something like this, if such a group was formed and I was asked to be part of it, I would concentrate less on the "head" issues of homeschooling and focus more on the "heart" ones. Instead of pretending like I knew what I was talking about, I'd talk about what I actually know.

And here's what I know: Homeschooling is a hard but rewarding job.

This time of year, it is so easy to look longingly at the finish line. Some homeschool families will wrap up their school year in May as many traditional schools do; others will continue throughout the year. Regardless of the timetable, at some point an evaluation will be made, and with it a decision as to what comes next . . . but that time is not now.

Homeschoolers, though it may be tempting to throw in the towel altogether, finish early and call it a school year, don't. Keep pressing on. Take a day off if needed, but use it to recommit yourself to finish well. What we're doing isn't easy, but worthwhile things seldom are.

And that's no joke.